Why is this forum so Amiga unfriendly

[Tenacious]

Until last year, I logging in with dial-up on a similar spec machine and the same software as you.  There are a few tweaks you may be un-aware of. The problems you mentioned:

"..refresh after refresh..."

I'm not sure why you need to do this.  It reminds me of the sluggish behavior I experience if I leave Javascript Support ENABLED.  This slows browsing by a factor of 4 even with a high-speed connection.  Java script isn't required here.

"..dumped out for no reason.."

This has been known for some time.  It seems to come from not logging off every time.  I still get stung by this, but only rarely now.  Two proceedures help help greatly: 1. Actively log off every time you log in.  2. Just before hitting the Submit key, select something on the page and choose "View link in new window".  If that window shows that you are still logged on (at the top), switch back to the posting window and Submit.  If not, log back in and then submit.  Beats loosing your post.

I have to agree with most here, Amiga.org is great.  Thanks to all who make it possible!

[scuzzb494]

Hi
[ quote ]

Sorry Jack but if you can't cope with the fact that online communication is more than 2400,8,n,1 it isn't anyone's fault but your own. Grow up.

[ end quote ]

Sorry for the late reply, I was in my Amiga workshop mending an A500 for someone. I spend a load of time in my Amiga workshop amongst a whole bag of Amigas and I have to dodge around with workshop space as I have to bunt and shunt machines in and out to get the most practical use. I do need on a number of occassions to access help lines for guidance. I have long held the view that unless I need a complex and otherwise unanswered question I would not ask here from the workshop. Often cus I get responses like that. After all these years of using and continuing to use the Amiga I have learnt how to use every resource possible to assist and help. And yes I could accept that all this modern bloat on pages is necessary.. Maybe... But my point is that a base Amiga needing assistance from any Tom Dick or Harry with limited knowledge is going to find this site impossible to use. Sorry.

As I said yesterday I can`t even post a message... The site rejects me. I have no idea why... Its the same with my Win98 machine which I use upstairs for downloading stuff. And its not firewall issues.. And there is no hardwire firewall on a USRobotics. [ And the phone line is a clear as a whistle and I have a serial card in the 4000D... Goodness me I'm quite adapt at using dial-up ]

You can say what you like here, but the truth is that when I am shunting machines into slots to get running I still have to come up here to get a post on this forum. And I think that's a shame. And that is why this forum can be so unfriendly to the Amiga... If its putting off folk like me then I guess you can make your own mind up...

Don`t worry, I get my answers in the end. Usually from tech heads without the bloat. Also Groups and Newsgroups are magic. And after all this time I know a great band of Amiga folk that can help. Sorry... I grew up with my Amiga, though thank goodness, if being here is what being grown up is all about then perhaps I'm glad I'm not all grow'd up.

You have fun... I certainly do. Back to the workshop.

PS I only need the words... Text. Amazing how efficient a word is.. Animated gifs don't give me jack. A line of text is often all I need.. Been doing text on my computers since.. er thinks 1981.... and I still have working my computer from 1981. [ not on the internet though... giggles ]

scuzz
Not quite old enough.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com

[scuzzb494]

Hi

Two images of 4000s I have in the Workshop...

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0406/car_1606_227.jpg

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/a4000d_day/scuzz_may09_04.jpg

I also have set up all the time an A600, 2 x A1200s, A500 and at a pinch an A2000, but that I have to move into space. These are my base Amiga tools which I use generally all the time.

Upstairs I have my A4000T, A1200 tower and my A1200 heavily expanded on broadband... But I have to climb the stairs from the workshop.

scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com

[countzero]

scuzzb494 wrote:

Upstairs I have my A4000T, A1200 tower and my A1200 heavily expanded on broadband... But I have to climb the stairs from the workshop.

so all this fuss was about climbing up that stairs ? get used to it, its good for your health !  :lol:

I believe this topic was brought up before and wayne has mentioned that current configuration is the best for both users (viewing the site with the PC and amiga). we should be grateful to them keeping the site as is. anything more, its up to their discretion.

[LoadWB]

Are you using that MultiFace card for your modem?  What TCP/IP stack?

[Flashlab]

Being thrown out of a website is annoying but you keep on complaining about all the bloat. Personally I don't find A.org bloated at all but you can turn image loading off in Amiga browsers but you don't react to that hint here at all.

Maybe you could add a text only forum part to your website if you think you have found a niche hole in the market? If there's really a demand you should have a solid user base in due time. Personally I think there's no demand.

Oh and please stop saying sorry for having an opinion; it's annoying and patronizing.

[scuzzb494]

Hi

>so all this fuss was about climbing up that stairs ? get >used to it, its good for your health

If you knew my medical condition you would not find that at all funny... ha ha

scuzz

[scuzzb494]

Hi

>Oh and please stop saying sorry for having an opinion; >it's annoying and patronizing.

You stop being annoying and patronizing. Stop picking holes in argument just so you make yourself look superior. You really have no idea... Honestly. My whole argument here is about classic Amiga use, as ever, SORRY. I am a classic Amiga user. I live in an era that is a touch out of phase with what is going on today, SORRY. I apologise for my world, and I apologise for troubling you. SORRY. OK. As ever I wish I had never brought up the subject... Amiga.. OS3... Dial-up... Classic kit... Seems simple enough to me.. But hey.. As ever I'll go back to my interest. Its not about switching stuff off, its about supporting a very very small quarter of the community that still use their Amigas as was... SORRY.

Point taken on the niche market though. Dunno why I didn`t think about it before. I'll disappear off into the abyss then and wallow around in my own classic world of Amiga. Good idea that.

What can I say. Bye.

Can you close this thread [ please ]

scuzz SORRY

[marcfrick2112]

Hi scuzz, I know you asked for this thread to be closed, but maybe I can offer a bit of help, maybe. OK, when you say 'refresh after refresh', do you mean that the screen re-draws many times before finally 'settling down' ? A.org does this to me on my A1200T as well. But the inability to post puzzles me. I am using AWeb APL with Genesis from OS3.9, I really don't seem to have the degree of problems that you have. Granted, after I click 'Reply', I usually go and get some coffee, and when I come back, all of the ?!#@&*! .GIFs have finally loaded.. It may be some trouble for A.org to do, but it really wouldn't hurt to have a text-only, or at least a 'lite' version... Not everyone has xx GHz processors to surf the net.. (typing this on my 633Mhz Celeron running Xandros... Click, wait 2 minutes, repeat... Edit; No, I am not a hypocrite, my Xandros machine was the easiest to get to... (Nursing a messed up knee, no stair-climbing for me)

Feel free to PM me if you want to lay this to rest ...

[arkanoid]

@skuzz

I haven't read all the posts to your question, srry. I'm just wondering if you realize that a.org is built using Xoops. Xoops CMS was designed by the PC community and it's target audience are modern PC users with enough processing power to process relatively complex pages. Even a Xoops page with zero content (text/images) would be a stretch for a 50MHz a4000 to process.

HTML pages have to be highly optimized to make practical for viewing on an Amiga, and Xoops is no good for that. It's not really a fault of the a.org team, it's just a consequence of most CMS systems these days presuming users are using relatively modern PC. If a.org were to switch to a "lightweight" CMS, such as http://www.solucija.com/ coupled with an equally lightweight forum system like http://punbb.informer.com/, then maybe you could view a.org more effectively. But I guess such a switch is out of the question.

We have to face the fact that classic Amigas are just not up to the challenge of viewing content rich websites these days.

 :cry:

[Flashlab]

People have given you some valid tips here and you don't even have the curtousy to answer them properly; for example the image loading which will greatly reduce stress on your modem. Do you even want any help or are you just here whine about you so called arguments?

What I meant about the "sorry" part is that when you use it in your posts, they don't mean actual sympathy but are used to condescend people. It's you who's been feeling superiour with your "sorry" you don't get my point attitude. And your last reaction here is totally childish and in my book out of line.

I applaud you for repairing Amigas and your effort for the Amiga but I hope that you don't have this attitude towards the people you do the repair work for.

So indeed can a moderator please close this topic as I won't be bullied into a childish fight?

[redrumloa]

So indeed can a moderator please close this topic as I won't be bullied into a childish fight?

Sounds like a plan to me.

First of all, sorry for the delay getting around to responding to this issue.  No one brought it to my attention, and in the preparation for a new job starting tomorrow, I had not noticed it until now.

That being said, I'm also terribly sorry that you find this site to be so "amiga unfriendly".  I've tried everything I could over the years to keep it usable on our antiquated machines and as you might not realize, backwards compatibility is incredibly difficult for a machine that isn't being made or it's browsers updated (with any real sense) any longer.

Also consider the fact that actual Amiga-based browsers make up less than 10% of our users, most of those using emulators such as Amiga Forever to access the site.

So the question becomes, do I keep the site usable by the vast majority who're now using Windows, Linux, or Macs, or do I go overboard trying to make the site less usable for the sake of the VERY few remaining users reading the site on actual Amigas?

See the dilemma?

Wayne

[HopperJF]

@Wayne

I see what you are saying up until you say "less usable"

Surely making the site simpler for older machines would in fact still make it "more usable" for better equipped machines

Efficiency and cutting out bloat should make things smoother on all machines I'd imagine

HopperJF wrote:I see what you are saying up until you say "less usable"

Surely making the site simpler for older machines would in fact still make it "more usable" for better equipped machines

Actually, the problem is that as the real world moves on, browsers like Internet Explorer actually begin losing compatibility for older HTML programming standards like HTML 3.0 that have been defunct for what, 8 years now?

The problem is, the world is moving onwards and upwards, while the Amiga simply isn't keeping up.  Remember, we did try to upgrade a few years ago and the forums themselves really did become completely unusable by most everyone, including older, slower PCs.

Trust me, if I could redo the site to use newer standards (most of which are faster/better/easier), I'd happily do so.  This is another one of the situations where I'm damned either way.

Wayne

[Speelgoedmannetje]

marcfrick2112 wrote: Not everyone has xx GHz processors to surf the net.. (typing this on my 633Mhz Celeron running Xandros... Click, wait 2 minutes, repeat... Edit; No, I am not a hypocrite, my Xandros machine was the easiest to get to... (Nursing a messed up knee, no stair-climbing for me)

:-?
I got a 133mhz pc with 64mb memory, win98 + Firefox 2, and the site loads in a jiffy.